Ice cube cracker



Patented Feb. 9, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

My invention relates to devices for cracking the conventional ice cube as obtained from the domestic refrigerator, to fit the cube for 'use in making iced drinks, ice water, etc.

In thus cracking ice cubes for their most effective use, it has been found not sufiicient to merely crush them where part of the ice cube will remain in good sized chunks and the balance be more or less pulverized, resembling snow.

The most effective way is to so crush the cube that the resulting crushed ice will be in the form of shards and slivers of as near uniformity in size as can be obtained.

I have discovered that by arranging a receptacle to hold a cube wherein are disposed a plurality of edged ridges to support the cube and then imposing a breaker on the reverse side of the cube, that is an arrangement of plural prongs having chisel edges at various angles, that the varying edges tend to produce fractures in the cube that are substantially parallel to the edge producing the crack and that when the chisel points are impressed into the surface of the ice cube the cube breaks very easily into the shards required with a minimum application of force to cause the breakage, being somewhat more effective in that respect than the well known pointed ice pick.

In order to produce the best results the chisel edges should be at different angles, an excellent pattern for which is shown in the accompanying drawing in which,-

Fig. I is a plier-like structure with a pair of reciprocabie jaws;

Fig. 11 is a broken away portion of the receptacle jaw in plan to show its interior construction; and

Fig. III is a plan of the underside of the opposing jaw and shows a convenient distribution of chiselpointed ice breaking prongs hereinafter more completely referred to in detail.

In Fig. I, 2 and 3 are the grips or handles of a plier-like structure pivoted at 4. 5 is a receptacle portion, preferably open on one side and on whatmay be called the top. 6 is an opposed jaw which is reciprocable with 5, shown here to be rectangular in general outline to conform to the interior shape of 5. 1, 8, 9, III, II and I2 are chisel pointed prongs adapted to contact an ice cube contained in the receptacle 5 under the influence of manual pressure applied to the grips 2 and 3.

l4 represents an ice cube in place ready to be broken. The laws and the chisel points of the prongs should be so arranged that when an ice cube, such as M, is in place, the contact on the upper surface of the ice cube will be substantially uniform, otherwise shards of ice are likely to fly out of the device when it is used.

The chisel points referred to are preferably of the form shown, more like a cold-chisel than like a wood chisel, that is beveled on both sides; single bevel may be used but is less effective. It is important that the chisel points or chisel edges such as la shall be arranged on a different angle than the point next adjacent to it in any direction to produce as many lines of fracture on the surface of the cube as is possible with a given number of chisel pointed prongs so that the fracture lines will intersect.

The most effective pattern that I have been able to develop is that shown in Fig HI, points such as I, 8, 9 and I0 being arranged to produce diagonal fractures of the contained cube and those such as H and i2 being arranged substantially parallel with supporting ridges in the receptacle, indicated by numerals l5, l6, l1 and I8.

These supporting ridges co-operate with the prongs to produce more diverse intercepting fractures of the contained cube. When an ice cube cracker is made substantially as shown in the drawing, it has been determined that practically all of the cube will be broken into slivers and shards as described with almost no fine crushed ice.

I am aware that pliers in various forms are old and also that reciprocating parts for crushing ice cubes have been attempted many times, but I am not aware that my peculiar arrangement of supporting edges for a cube and impinging chisel edges at varying angles on the reverse side of the cube has ever keen known or used but it comprises a structure that is economical to manufacture, easy to use and effective in operation. What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:-

In an ice cube cracker, two pivotally connected levers. opposed handles on one end of each lever adapted to be grasped in one hand, a boxlike receptacle on the other end of one of the levers open on two adjacent sides to receive an ice cube, the two sides opposite the openings having spaced parallel supporting ridges on their inner faces, a rectangular flat plate member on the other end of the other lever and adapted to register with one of the open sides of the receptacle, spaced prongs extending from one side of the plate toward said open side. the prongs being sharpened to present flat chisel-like cutting edges to a cube of ice in the receptacle, said cutting edges all lying in a single plane but extending in different directions whereby to produce diagonal fractures of the contained cube as the levers are manually forced together.

LESTER E. S'I'IPE. 

